As noted by C. W. Thornthwaite, the most important name in the history of climatology, and to many the father of modern climatology, is Wladimir Peter Köppen (Thornthwaite, 1943). Köppen published his first significant paper in 1868 and was researching, writing and publishing at the time of his death. He was born on 25 September 1846, in St Petersburg, the capital of the Imperial Russian Empire, and died in Graz, Austria, on 22 June 1940. Raised in an intellectual academic environment of German, French, and Russian scholars, Köppen developed a deep sense of environmental perception, a wonder for the varied vegetal zones of Imperial Russia, and an appreciation of the effects that climate has upon life on Earth. His grandfather was a German medical doctor invited to Imperial Russia by Empress Catherine the Great. He became a personal physician to the royal family. His father, Peter von Köppen, was a geographer who served on the faculty at the Imperial Academy of Science. Appointed to...
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Dando, W.A. (2005). KÖppen, Wladimir Peter. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_116
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